1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of inspecting patterning of a photoresist.
2. Description of the Related Art
There has been known a method which forms a photoresist layer by dropping a photoresist liquid in a strip shape from a slit (discharge port) of a nozzle (JP 2003-170098 A). Although the photoresist liquid dropped in this manner is requested to have a strip shape having a uniform thickness, there has been a case where the thickness of the photoresist liquid becomes non-uniform due to an adhered material on the discharge port.
When the thickness of the photoresist is not uniform at the time of dropping the photoresist liquid, such dropping of the photoresist liquid brings about not only the non-uniform thickness of the photoresist layer but also the formation of a cut in the strip-like photoresist layer. When the cut is formed in the photoresist layer, patterning of the photoresist layer becomes defective. Conventionally, although the patterning inspection is performed based on an image imaged by a camera, the detection of a defect is difficult.